Tinted Landscapes
In 1900, about 60% of Americans lived in rural areas; by 1930, nearly 60% lived in urban ones. It was a transformation of economics, housing, culture, and daily experience. But how could anyone show not only the difference in appearances, but what it felt like to live in these seemingly different worlds? Visual works of the New Deal era manifested contrasting experiences of urban and rural life that are still accessible to modern viewers. In urban depictions, bold, saturated colors and strong contrasts highlight energy, movement, and density, drawing attention to architecture, industry, and crowded streets. The vivid tones create a sense of intensity that matches the fast-paced nature of city life, while darker shades contribute to a heavier mood, suggesting urban uncertainty and alienation. In contrast, rural scenes—now remembered fondly as a happier world—are often portrayed with light, pastel colors that convey calmness and optimism. Soft greens, pale blues, and warm earth tones emphasize open space, natural landscapes, and a slower pace of life: a sense of simplicity and stability. By comparing these generalized design choices, it can be suggested that color functions not only as a visual tool but also as a way of shaping cultural and emotional associations of place.
Let’s look briefly at two visual works from the mid-1930s: Leonard Pytlak’s Uptown and Joseph Sabalauskas’ Summer Breeze. Their titles allude to a feeling as much as a location. In Uptown bold, saturated colors and strong contrasts draw the viewer’s eye to crowded buildings and labyrinthine streets, their condensed and overlapping forms reflecting the intensity of urban life. A stoplight, still a novelty confined to cities, is just one of many glowing sources: streetlights, a hotel sign, and the cars of an elevated train careening overhead. Darker tones highlight this effect, adding a heavier atmosphere that attaches to a lone figure on the street. In contrast, Summer Breeze relies on soft, pastel blending and an open composition to produce a calm, welcoming scene. Pale colors and warm earth tones amplify space—mostly sky and grassy—to evoke a slower pace of life, presenting the countryside as stable and restorative. Together, these paintings demonstrate how color shapes emotional and cultural understandings of place: urban environments are energetic yet strained; rural landscapes are peaceful and idealized. They’re almost like filters on a smartphone. Contrasts a century old invite viewers to consider whether these visual distinctions still influence how “city” and “country” life are imagined today, suggesting that artistic choices can reinforce simplified or romanticized views of complex environments.
Works Consulted
-- Nelson, Megan Kate. “A Brief History of the Stoplight.” Smithsonian Magazine. May 2018. Link
-- Rung, Margaret. “New Deal Art.” The New Deal Studies Program, Roosevelt University. Link